Unexpected - Park Jimin

Chapter 5: The contract

Jia had noticed your eye contact with Jimin and sighed while continuing to walk forward, "This will definitely not be good news to you..." she said to herself. "What are you talking about?" you inquired, focusing back on her. "There are certain clauses in our trainee contract that you won't like. If you are asking yourself how I know that..." she said turning around for a moment so you could see her properly, "I know everything. You better get used to it." She stated in a sassy manner and smiled confidently. You chuckled to yourself but swallowed nervously when you thought back to her prior words. 

After a short car ride, from the fan sign location to Big Hit's office, you sat down in Jia's spacious office. It was sophisticated, clean, neat, basically just like Jia. A big glass front revealed a stunning view over Seoul, the sun slowly setting behind the Skyscrapers. Everything was flooded with golden soft light, making sharp edges appear rounded and fading. The view was breathtaking. 

Jia smiled, took place behind the desk and laid a contract in front of your eyes. You groaned silently as soon as you saw it.

It was massive. 

And in Korean. 

You would have to take hours to read it completely. She looked at you with an apologetic smile. "Don't worry, we'll go through it together and discuss everything you don't understand or have questions about." You sighed in relief and sat down silently, eyes starting to read the first few sentences. Trainee program... everything paid by the company...... "Wait, Big Hit pays for everything?" you asked incredulously and raised an eyebrow. This sounded to easy to be true. "You are smart. Not naive. I already like you," she declared smiling cheekily. "Most trainees don't even read half of the contract and just flip through it briefly. You, on the other hand, directly noticed crucial information," Jia sighed. "Well here comes the first problematic point... When you become Big Hit's trainee, they will pay for everything: your dance classes, vocal lessons, Korean classes if necessary, maybe Chinese, Japanese or English, depending on your future role in the agency. They even pay your rent and your food. So far so good, but..." she paused looking at you with a serious expression, stressing her following words, "You must understand that this money isn't just offered to you. The company is making an investment. You're the investment: once you have your debut the company gets a very high percentage of your earnings. This goes on until you break even, meaning that it goes on until your debt is fully paid back. Depending on the people and groups being formed in the near future, your trainee years can be more or less long, increasing your debt. So in the case in which you succeed: no problem, you pay the company back and become famous and live well like BTS. But what if you don't? If you don't make it big and never fully pay back the company you will be buried in debts." You swallowed at her words, understanding that this wouldn't be an easy decision. You were risking your entire future with this contract, gambling with your life. You nodded to show her that you had understood and continued to read the next parts of the contract.

Jia had noticed your worried expression and took your hand. A gentle gesture you hadn't expected coming from her. "I am confident I made the right choice by giving you this contract. My judgment has never failed me and from what I've seen so far, you have the total package Y/N. You can make it big, I know it. You just have to trust yourself and work hard and you will pay this debt back in no time." You smiled, yet still worried, the fine lines created by your furrowed brows  not disappearing, "Thank you."

You read the next parts of the contract, seeing it being limited to the next year, you frowned. "So I can't leave for the next two years?", Jia chuckled "We are not a prison, but let's say that it's definitely in your best interest to stay the entire span of time. After that, you can either sign another contract or leave the company." You understood what she meant and continued.

You were slowly coming to the end, getting tired of all the reading, when something caught your attention and made shivers run down your spine.

"I didn't think you were the kind of people tricking poor teenagers with fine print," you commented, words sharper than intended, looking up at Jia.

"I was waiting for you to see that," she responded calmly, looking at you seriously, "That's what I meant on the way here when you asked me what you wouldn't like." She sighed, leaning forward on the table, weight resting on her elbows, "All trainees and idols working for Big Hit aren't allowed to have any public romantic relationships. We retain ourselves the right to end the contract immediately if anything bigger than rumors drops in the press." You were shocked, to say the least. The company was massively intruding in their idols' personal lives. It made sense though, this clause actually explained something you had always wondered about. You couldn't tell the name of one K-Pop Idol in an official relationship. And now you knew exactly why.

Okay. Okay. You would just have to be single for the next years. That was nothing new to you anyway. The last serious relationship you had, dated from 2 years ago. It had broken your heart. But you felt trapped by this contract, you didn't like the thought of not being able to have a choice in something so important. This is your chance to live the life you've always dreamed of! Stop thinking about boys and get your act together! You will never have a chance like this again... Your determination grew the more you thought about it. You wouldn't have time for a relationship anyway, your schedule would be too tight. You were now sure that this clause wouldn't be too horrible to respect, but you couldn't shake the feeling that you were missing something important.

You finished reading the contract, still feeling like you weren't taking everything into consideration. Something must've slipped past you. A thought brushed your mind and you froze, realizing something you hadn't thought of before.

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